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 Post subject: Sail choices
PostPosted: Fri Aug 20, 2010 8:28 am 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 8:33 pm
Posts: 3
Location: Columbia River Gorge
Hello gang,

I'm new to the forum, also new to Hobie Cats but have 20+ years of windsurfing experience in extreme winds. Looking at getting a 1990 H14 from cousins. They haven't used it in a couple years and would like to see it get used. The boat is a transplant from Santa Barbara and has been sitting next to a lake cabin near Spokane. They lost the sail and boom (perhaps stolen?) so these will need to be replaced. I'm not yet sure if this is an H14T, so the jib option may not be there.

So here's my questions..... I noticed Whirlwind Sails offers a few choices in sail performance & quality. Since I will be sailing in the Columbia River Gorge, I will be doing a lot of upwind / downwind sailing in gusty up/down conditions, so sail performance is key. What's the difference between the Mylar, Dacron and Poly construction? Would the higher priced X2 or SuperR make a huge difference in perfomance? Is the batten set worth the cost?

Thanks!


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 Post subject: Re: Sail choices
PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:44 am 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:04 am
Posts: 818
Location: Clinton Lake Kansas
Welcome, the Gorge is on my bucket list BTW
From the videos of the Gorge I've seen and my experiences on a Hobie 14, IMHO your best bet is find a used main and boom and dump that little boat in the river for a test spin with a stock rag (even if it's old). This will give you a good idea of how the boat performs and will help shape your decision on what sail may work better, or worse. Not sure a fat head will survive the downwind legs. Fastest way down (with stock pinhead sail) is DDW. You may want to heat up a bit more going down, and a 14 needs a couple more feet of bow in this instance, especially in a blow, with chop.

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 Post subject: Re: Sail choices
PostPosted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 12:33 pm 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:36 pm
Posts: 788
Location: Tri-Cities, WA
I can weigh in on this. I sail Wallula Gap and the Gorge on a H17Sport. But, my buddy Kam sails a 14 Turbo. A few years back we each bought Whirlwind Super Rs and LOVE them. We bought them off season and Chip (Whirlwind) threw in a set of battons for free (sweet). Both boats perform better on all points of wind. And while Kam can not quite keep up with me, he doesn't fall nearly as far behind as before and flys a hull in less wind. You might also want to consider 'bow planes' if you plan to drive the boat hard. They are expensive, but worth it. :wink:


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 Post subject: Re: Sail choices
PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:39 pm 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2010 8:33 pm
Posts: 3
Location: Columbia River Gorge
Yeah, Columbia River Gorge offers many different venues for many different wind and water activities. If the wind isn't right in one place, just go a few miles east or west and find a completely different wind pattern.

I live about 5 miles east of Stevenson, WA with Wind Mountain at my front door and the mouth of Wind River at my back door..... so obviously, there's no shortage of wind here. Indeed, strong east and west winds at this particular location. Most of the small sailing boats stay near Cascade Locks, OR (across the river from Stevenson), where there's lighter winds and a sailing club, so I'll try and get to know some of them.

I just got this boat last weekend and very happy to report that it does have an attached jib.... can an H14T be powered with just a jib in a strong wind? I've been looking around for a used main sail and boom, but no luck so far. I've got a bunch of old windsurfing sails, what if I just rigged one of these? OTOH, maybe I'll just wait until the off-season and talk to Chip. Not sure what "bow planes" are, but I'll try doing a search on that.

Thanks for the advise.


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 Post subject: Re: Sail choices
PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 9:28 am 
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Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2004 12:36 pm
Posts: 788
Location: Tri-Cities, WA
Here is a link to Murrays Marine for the bow planes (anti-pitchpole hydrofoils) http://www.murrays.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=01-3240&Category_Code=C-RI&Store_Code=MS Note: they aren't cheep. 8)


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